Off to the Hospital

We got to the hospital yesterday at 7:30 PM and things are looking like we'll have our new baby after dinner!  You'll have to wait a few days for a proper pic of the little guy.

Levi's Day!

Pictures are out of order but I can't change it for some reason! We started at "The Fish Store" as Levi would call it, aka "Bass Pro Shops." This is Levi's favorite place to go and asks to go there everyday!
For dinner we got Levi's favorite, Pizza!

We also went to an airplane museum and saw Levi's favorite things in the world, "AIRPLANES!!!" He loved looking at all the airplanes, I think I might have a future pilot on my hands!

Daddy trying out the "Wright Brothers" flight simulator. It only took him twice of crashing to figure it out.

We had a really fun day with our Levi. He has been such an amazing little boy and we wanted to spoil him really well one last time before he wasn't an only child anymore. We were also celebrating Josh finally being home from traveling! He has traveled almost an entire four months solid with PWC and we are so glad that he is finally done. We started our day with Levi sleeping through the night!!! (I know he is a little old to not be sleeping through the night but it has been a really rough 4 months!) Then we got up and I made his favorite breakfast, waffles. The rest is shown in the pictures!!! We are so grateful to have Levi and his wonderful spirit in our house and are happy we get to spoil him when we do! Right now he is finishing up this busy day with a bubble bath, his favorite! Then Daddy will read him stories and then night night! We love you Levi!

Old Man Levi

So, the other day we were shopping at Wal-mart with my mom. I had left Levi with my mom while I ran to look at something else and when I came back my mom was laughing so hard she was almost crying. Have you ever seen those big plastic candy canes that they fill with kisses or m&ms? Well Levi had gotten ahold of one of those and knew just what to do with it. He grabbed onto the curvy part and held it like a cane and then put his other hand on his lower back and was walking like an old person. He was shaking and bent over and it was so funny! I wish I could have gotten it on video as we can't really get him to do it again on cue. He was walking down the isle when another lady walked past my mom who was laughing said, "Wow looks like you have a real character on your hands." And that we do. I am glad Levi has a fun sense of humor and makes us laugh all the time! We don't know where he picked this up but are impressed with how he conncected two and two!!!

Pumpkins!

On Monday night, for Family Home Evening we carved pumpkins. Dani and Jose came over and helped out with Levi's pumpkin. It was fun we had a good time. The pumpkins turned out really cute. They didn't last long however, as our neighborhood squirrls have helped themselves, they have pretty much finished them off. Oh well they looked cute for one night! Happy Halloween!

Happy #2!!!

Party #2 Jen, Dustin, and Brody, came for a little bit and Derek and Rachel also came! A picture of poor Rach with both feet in casts!!! Thanks for coming even though you can't walk! We love you!

The next pictures are at the party with his friends from church. Holly is who Levi is hugging and he loves Holly! They followed eachother around all night and played together the whole time.

Tonka Remote Control car, Levi loves it. We knew what to get after letting him play at Shell and Trent's house with all of there boy toys and this was his favorite!

Levi opening presents. This was a truck from his friend Jocelyn.

Levi's friends from church! We have been blessed with a great ward and fun friends!!!

Everytime Levi sees a candle now he says, "Happy Birthday to you!" He loved having a birthday this year and it was fun watching him enjoy it!

Thanks to Melanie in our ward we had some really cute decorations. She put together a polk-a-dot party for us and it turned out really cute!

Before the guests arrived.

Levi helping blow up the balloons for his party.

Oh yes, and BYU won on Saturday so we could actually enjoy the party! (Thanks BYU)

I can't believe Levi is two already. We have had a great two years with him and can't wait for so many more! He is so sweet, smart, funny, and so much more. We had a great birthday for two weeks! Starting with our halloween party in Califonia with our family there. (pictures posted of this party later) Then on Tuesday we had a small party in Granby with my family up there. Then on Saturday we had a party with a few of Levi's friends from church, and then Sunday we had a very small but fun party with Dustin and Jen, and Rachel and Derek. Thank you to everyone for coming and for the gifts, Levi had a blast at every party. We finally bought a camera on Saturday Morning so I will post my first few pictures from the parties from this past weekend. Every day this week Levi thought it was his birthday and would say, "Happy Birthday to you!" and dance around. We love you Levi!!!!

Riding in Style

Every once in a while it's fun to travel for work and enjoy the perks.  This time, business travel has called me to San Jose, CA.  I've never been to the bay area so it was fun to fly into San Francisco last Sunday night, and got even better when I got to the Hertz garage to find my rental car.  Since I have traveled quite a bit for my job, I am a Gold Member for Hertz's frequent traveler program.  That means that when I get to the airport, I don't have to go to the Hertz counter and go through the process of setting up the rental agreement, signing the agreement and getting the keys to my car.  Instead, I just walk up to an electronic board at the garage and it tells me what stall my car is waiting for me in.  Here is what I saw when I got there:


Wow, they know my name! Wait....prestige collection?

 Usually my name isn't above the actual car as well, so I thought that was pretty cool.  Then I noticed what it said next to my name..."Prestige Collection."  What?  What kind of car IS this?  Then I closed the trunk and took a closer look.


It's a Mercedes!



That's a lot of gadgets to figure out!

Yep, that's right.  I got a Mercedes!  I couldn't believe it, and in fact, I had to call Alicia just to make sure I got the symbol right, and she confirmed it was in fact a Mercedes C300!  I have to say that not only was it a "nice" car, but it was a pretty sweet ride too.



Don't you just want to take it for a ride?

The sad part is that I was only out in San Jose this week from Sunday night to Tuesday night, so it was a short but sweet relationship.  I was sad to say goodbye to it when I dropped it off at the airport.  Hopefully the give it back to me when I go back out for the next two weeks!

Look for more fun posts on my travel adventures in San Francisco and San Jose!

Backpacking Trip Part One: Estes Park (Bear Lake) to Grand Lake (North Inlet)

Two good looking dudes

August 10, 2007

Three years ago in the summer of 2007, Jen & Dustin Trail (then just dating) and I hiked up the North Inlet trail from Grand Lake and came across a really fun swimming hole with a jumping rock.

On that trip we came across some backpackers who said they had come over the mountains from Estes Park and were going to end their trip in Grand Lake. Ever since that day I've been dreaming of taking that same trip and stopping at that swimming hole to cool off after a hard day on the trail...so the dream began!

The cute couple

Doesn't that look fun?

May 28, 2010

While on a family trip to Las Vegas, Alicia surprised me on my birthday by getting me a sweet North Face backpack...the pieces are coming together!

Don't you just want to take it somewhere?

Summer 2010

When the summer started to roll around, some of the Trail boys discussed doing a "Man's Trip" and going backpacking, or climbing a 14'er (mountain with a peak reaching 14k ft.).  With my dream having lied dormant for several years, I finally saw my opportunity, so I volunteered to plan the trip.

Little did I know how much planning had to go into a trip like this, even if it was only for two nights!  Man, it was easy in the Boy Scouts, all you did was let your leaders plan the trip, and you just showed up! 

First, I had to figure out what trails would actually take us from Estes Park to Grand Lake.  I searched all over the Internet and after several days, I finally found two blogs of hikers who had done the same trip I wanted to.  I also had to make sure the route passed by my favorite swimming hole!

Next, I had to call the Back country Office for the Department of the Interior - since the DOI runs the Rocky Mountain National Park where we would be hiking - and find out what campsites were available in the back country.  In this day and age you'd think you could reserve the campsites online, but NO, you have to call to find out availability, and then you have to MAIL (not e-mail) a letter of request to the DOI Back country Office to see if you can get the site you want.  I know, crazy!  Luckily, we got the campsite that ended up being about 20 yrds away from my swimming hole!

Find route...check!

Reserve camp site....check!

Get people to come...check!

August 19, 2010

Whew! But just when I thought it was all planned out, Alicia asked "What are you guys going to eat?" "Ummmmm.......hmmmm...." I said.  "That's a good question." So the night before we were supposed to leave on the trip, three of the 5 of us that were going to go got together, and we planned a wonderful menu worthy of being termed, "Gourmet."  Here is what we planned:

Dinner Friday Night:  Eat at restaurant in Estes Park before heading into the National Park.

Breakfast Saturday Morning: Sausage links (cooked over the fire on a stick) and then wrapped in biscuit dough (baked over the fire on a stick), and complimented by fresh (store bought) OJ.

Lunch Saturday: Sliced Summer Sausage topped with Cheddar cheese and wrapped in flour tortillas, complimented by your choice of trail mix, beef jerky, and granola bars.  All to be washed down by Propel or Crystal Light (individual water bottle packets).

Dinner Saturday: Stag chili (one 14 oz. can per person)

Breakfast Sunday: Four packets of Quakers Instant Oatmeal (your choice of flavor)

Sounds good right? Our wives didn't think so!  They were glad they weren't going on the trip with that menu, not to mention what all the nuts, beef jerky, sausage, and chili does to you! Haha. 

August 20, 2010

Well, Alicia got all the food for us Friday while we were all at work, and she even separated the trail mix, beef jerky, granola bars, drink mixes, and cracker packs into individual ziplock bags for us to take....what a great wife! We all got together, had a great hike, and no one died! THE END

What, you want to hear more?  You'll have to wait for the Backpacking Trip Part II post within the next few days, but here are a few teaser pictures!

Clinton on the back of Dustin's ride from the airport

Breakfast...doesn't it look delicious?

Let's do this!

Wow, what a view (the mountains, not me)!

Time for a nap by the creek

Ahhh! My swimming hole, finally!

 TO BE CONTINUED!!!!

Raspberries!

Levi picking and eating raspberries. He didn't contribute to the 16 cups, he ate every one he picked!

Another tradition, is to go to the mountains and pick wild raspberries. We have done this evey August I can remember. Usually the guys help for a little bit and then they take the kids to the creek and the girls finish up. When I got to go my mom and I picked 16 cups of berries, but she has already been on several trips and we will soon have a day for canning and making jam and syrup. Fun fun! Here are some pictures of berry picking days!

Summer Fun!

Well, this summer our camera has died and we desperately need a new one! But, since we didn't get one yet I finally was able to steal some of the pictures off of my mom's camera. Here are some of our summer activities!

Back to school shopping! When you live in the mountains you get one day a year to do back to school shopping and it has become some what of a tradition. Maria and her kids come to Denver with my mom, and I take them to the sales and whatever else they can squeeze in a one day trip. These days are very full of trying on clothes, shoes, getting school supplies, chasing kids, and a lot of tears normally! But we always have a good and very crazy time!

Here we are at wal-mart at our last and final stop, Levi too tired to go on is sleeping with Maddie in the cart and we are ready to get all of the school supplies!

Fun at the Lake! This is a bridge that doesn't always have enough water under it to jump, but since the lake is full this year we were able to make a jumping off the bridge trip. This is a first for Josh with our family because the lake hasn't been full enough since he joined the family!

Levi, Corey, and Jake, at the lake picking berries.

Josh diving off the bridge it is about 15-20 feet off the water.

Pa and Levi watching everyone jump!

This lake trip was our first for the summer. The water was still cold as you can see from Levi's expression. But we had fun playing in the water!

Levi saying. "All done, all done, all done" as soon as he touched the water. But we made him play a litte and he ended up having fun!

Levi taking care of the flag with Grandma.

Josh and Levi riding up front!

Jen and Dustin welcomed Brody Dustin, to there family this summer on July 20th. We are so excited he is here.

Levi is already jealous of Brody, what will he do when his little brother gets here?!?!?

Dustin showing off Brody for the first time! He is a proud daddy!